Mauritania 
Facts
Population:
2,747,312 (July 2001 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years:
46.14% (male 634,940; female 632,654)
15-64 years:
51.59% (male 698,433; female 718,883)
65 years and over:
2.27% (male 25,840; female 36,562) (2001 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.93% (2001 est.)
Birth rate:
42.95 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Death rate:
13.65 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years:
1 male(s)/female
15-64 years:
0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
0.71 male(s)/female
total population:
0.98 male(s)/female (2001 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
76.7 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
51.14 years
male:
49.06 years
female:
53.29 years (2001 est.)
Total fertility rate:
6.22 children born/woman (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
1.8% (2000 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
6,600 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
610 (1999 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Mauritanian(s)
adjective:
Mauritanian
Ethnic groups:
mixed Maur/black 40%, Maur 30%, black 30%
Religions:
Muslim 100%
Languages:
Hasaniya Arabic (official), Pular, Soninke, Wolof (official), French
Literacy:
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population:
46.7%
male:
53.4%
female:
40% (1998 est.)
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $5.4 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
5% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $2,000 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture:
25%
industry:
31%
services:
44% (1997)
Population below poverty line:
50% (1996 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%:
2.3%
highest 10%:
29.9% (1995)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
4.5% (2000 est.)
Labor force:
750,000 (1999)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 47%, services 39%, industry 14%
Unemployment rate:
23% (1995 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
$329 million
expenditures:
$265 million, including capital expenditures of $75 million (1996 est.)
Industries:
fish processing, mining of iron ore and gypsum
Industrial production growth rate:
2.2% (1999)
Electricity - production:
151 million kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel:
82.78%
hydro:
17.22%
nuclear:
0%
other:
0% (1999)
Electricity - consumption:
140.4 million kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (1999)
Agriculture - products:
dates, millet, sorghum, rice, corn, dates; cattle, sheep
Exports:
$333 million (f.o.b., 1999)
Exports - commodities:
iron ore, fish and fish products, gold
Exports - partners:
Japan 18%, France 17%, Italy 16%, Spain 11% (1998)
Imports:
$305 million (f.o.b., 1999)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, petroleum products, capital goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods
Imports - partners:
France 27%, Benelux 9%, Germany 7%, Spain 7% (1998)
Debt - external:
$2.1 billion (1999)
Economic aid - recipient:
$300 million (1998)
Currency:
ouguiya (MRO)
Currency code:
MRO
Exchange rates:
ouguiyas per US dollar - 250.870 (December 2000), 238.923 (2000), 209.514 (1999), 188.476 (1998), 151.853 (1997), 137.222 (1996)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Statistics: CIA World Factbook.
Mauritania in the News
An attack on the Israeli Embassy on Feb. 1 and two other high-profile attacks since December have thrown into question Mauritania's future as a modernizing, tolerant Islamic Republic.
On Aug. 8, Mauritania's National Assembly unanimously adopted a law criminalizing slavery … the first time in Mauritanian history that slaveholders have been sanctioned.
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